Saudi Arabia must fulfil its promise
The ban on women driving is part of a wider pattern of discrimination and broken promises by the Saudi government
by Nadya Khalife
Published in:
The Guardian
June 16, 2011
The Saudi government has made many promises to women. Six years ago, while denying their right to participate in the kingdom's first municipal elections, it promised they would be allowed to do so on the next occasion. Polling is due later this year but women are still denied the right to register as voters. In 2009, during Saudi Arabia's human rights review at the UN, it also promised to revise the "male guardianship" system that limits women's freedom of movement. Two years later, this freedom is yet to be secured. And since at least 2005, King Abdullah and other senior figures have said they would support rescinding the ban on women driving. This promise, too, has so far not been kept.
When Manal al-Sharif, a 33-year-old Saudi woman, dared to drive last month, Saudi authorities not only detained her, but also accused her of causing a social disturbance and ruining the moral fabric of their country for posting a video of herself driving on YouTube.
Saudi officials may have thought that arresting Sharif would deter other women from doing the same. Quite the contrary: the Women2Drive campaign on Facebook gathered steam and has called on women throughout the kingdom who have international drivers' licences to drive on 17 June in protest against the ban.
Even the presence of another Facebook group with 500 members that has vowed to give women beatings if it finds them driving on 17 June does not appear to have daunted the women.
Banning women from driving makes their lives a lot harder. Sharif explained why she took matters into her own hands and drove in protest: late one evening she was unable to get home from work. When she called her brother, he did not answer the phone. She did not have a driver at the time, and had to look for a taxi. If she were allowed to drive, she could have simply driven home.
Many other Saudi women don't have a male relative to drive them around and can't afford to spend over £180 to hire a driver. Last month the daily Al-Riyadh reported that police stopped a woman from al-Ras governorate for driving to a store to buy groceries. Instead of escorting the driver and her two female companions back home, the police told the women to call a male relative to collect them. They had no relative to call and eventually got a male neighbour to come for them. But, it seems that every day women from Jeddah, al-Ras, and Riyadh are defying the driving ban, and getting behind the wheel.
No secular or religious law prohibits Saudi women from driving. Saudi clerics issued a non-binding fatwa, or religious edict, in 1991 banning women from driving and, following an earlier generation's attempt to protest against the ban, the interior ministry decreed that women mustn't drive. Driver's licences are issued only to Saudi men.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to ban women driving, but this is part of a broader pattern of discrimination against women. In Saudi society, women are not allowed to make day-to-day decisions without permission from their male guardians, usually a husband, father, brother or even a son. This means they cannot work, study or travel without prior male approval. They cannot access some types of medical care, and they cannot typically file a complaint about domestic abuse without a male guardian present, who may well be the abuser.
A Human Rights Watch report in 2008, Perpetual Minors, documented abuses against Saudi women stemming from the male guardianship system and segregation policies. The campaign to drive symbolises larger discrimination than not being allowed to get behind the wheel of a car.
King Abdullah Abd al-Aziz has lauded Saudi women internationally for their achievements in higher education, and for their entrepreneurial skills. Despite his praise, Saudi women remain second-class citizens in their own country and face discrimination every day. The Saudi king has a choice to make on 17 June: to allow women to drive, and ultimately to exercise their full range of rights, or to continue down the same old path of making empty promises.
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lol... i would like to experience that excitement also one day.. :)
but loud music... errr..
and we are talking in general.. may be all woman don't have same thinking..
i personally think there would be some strong reasons behind this ban, not only the Islamic issue.. which may be they don't want to disclose..
I must say what is luxury and exhilaration to you may not be the same for all women or indeed people.Personally what you described is not my idea of exhilaration! And I know friends here in Qatar, who having the license and money to boot, hate the idea of driving specially in the ME.
But IMO, as I stated before, I feel its still better for a woman to drive alone, than having some unknown driver taking her around, which other than being un Islamic is also dangerous.
Inshallah hope the ban is lifted..perhaps they could apply some conditions if they fear an increase in crimes, but keeping the ban does not mean protecting the women cos many women today are not married and/or have no available family member to take them around.
What an arguement. I wrote this post because I have relatives in Saudi who are always suffering. My uncle is at work most of the time while my aunt is at home and she has to rely on taxis to go grocery shopping or to meet friends. It would make life so much eaiser for them if women were allowed to drive. Ingeniero I don't agree with your statement that women should sit at the back seat like a queen or princess and let someone else drive for them.. I personally love to drive. It gives me a sense of exhilaration when I drive a new car on my own with loud music.. splendid.. You can't imagine the pleasure when you walk into a car showroom planning to buy a new car every few years.. Going for a test drive and then selecting the car and then finally driving out of the showroom in your brand new car.. Poor Saudi women are missing out on that eventhough they have so much of money, they cannot enjoy this basic luxury..
woman is the most respectable personality.. every one respect them, the who don't - all curses upon em...
but the problem will females is that they go too much for shopping, and man suffer alot because of that :/
didn't you check the book to understand a woman?
then check this.. u will learn alot
ingeniero, not all women have the luxury of a driver. Many women rely on the men of their family to drive them...and those men are not always willing or able to do so. Women simply want to be able to go where they need to go, when they need and want to, without asking or begging.
It;s all about needs, respect and dignity.
ingerniero
Women are complex creature on earth, we men will never understand them ;O)
that will lead to the same in the end.. why girls don't want to sit like a queen/princess in back seat and let other to drive the car... i don't understand, why girls want to suffer. when they have opportunity to live better life then men, comfortable
well, then they can hire miskeen kharijee ;O)
but there was always a companion with them.. they were not alone.. even the slaves.. so what you want.. slavery again>???
but if they started there.. they will not stop.. there is saying they if u gave space for a finger, they will put hand inside.. so i think there govt. know about this saying.. so they don't want them to put a finger :)
well thats a best example came in my mind that why they are not allowing lol..
and all the liberty and freedom of women lies in women driving cars? There are many things other than only driving a car in many parts of the world including GCC to do for the betterment of women.
Personally i think, women must be given the right to drive, as i've read that even at the time of Prophet (SAW) women used to ride horse and camels.
Let's start with the women driving in the cities first and then worry about expanding it later :o)
well that make a sense... ;) i agree..
but again.. they will implement another law. that no girl is allowed for long drive?
Most, if not all women will be driving within the city - to drop off kids, go to work or shop. So, the argument does not apply - does it ;o)
but one thing to be keep in mind.. saudia is far big then all these.. if they all become one country, still saudia will be bigger then them.. so may this is also a reason for them.. another thing gulf is mostly a tax free zone. so they don't have such a bigger source of income else then oil, which is only for royal family..
qatar may be equal to there one city..
and u spent time there.. you know ther behavior of the people there.. i came to know about the cases that even they did wrong to the ppl who went for umrah there.. so how can they expect good from them.
may this is one of the main reason also for not allowing females to drive
These are reasons given to stop women from driving, but they are not valid..
Other countries including Kuwait, bahrain and Qatar have addressed these issues.
One can put into place mechanisms, recruit more police and enforce laws to protect the women - if the will power was there.
@ fatimah well i also dont knw abt those ahadiths.. but what i would like to say that here issue is not about women rights.. the issue is that what will happen if they give this right to women.. will they be safe or not. do u ever visit to saudia by car..?? u will never find police patrol even if u travel for 100's of kilometers.. its not coz police or govt is irresponsible but its imposible for them to make police chekpost after every 50 or 100 kilometers.. so the issue is womens safety.. no 1 wants that their sisters face any problem.. in saudia there are ppl who behave very bad wid womens in the shopping malls, parks etc etc.. if u cant beleive just go & chek these things on youtube..
well here i would like to say that according to my personal experience if they lift the ban more problems will be create (kidnapping, flirting, rape).. the govt & the ppl are already aware of these problems.. so we have to think beyond the boundaries.. there is no comparison between saudia & qatar.. saudia is far bigger than qatar if we it see geographically.. in qatar doing crime is easy but escaping is impossible coz qatar is very small & remember qatar is surrounded by three sided water whereas in saudia ppl do crime & easily escape to other neighbour countries.. so for my saudi sisters i would like to say to them that they have to choose 1 in 2 options.. first 1 is start driving by own & (put ur life in danger) or stay in home & just go out wid ur family members..
saudia govt is not women enemy they are just trying to protect them from such incidents..
thanks. :)
may be right.. well i didn't checked those ahadiths.. but as much i read, i came to know that a woman should not go out with a mehram, but in case of some emergency.
well another thing in my mind about saudia is that may be the govt. is afraid of giving permission now, since the kept them always below now giving directly such an order that girls are allowed to drive alone can lead to a lot of problems. so may be they just want to avoid this..
since Saudi is a majority Muslim country and Islam is their main religion I can assure you there are plenty of proofs from the hadith of women not only traveling alone, ie without a males, but also of them having rode horses and camels.
What the case is here is that while certain scholars found women driving alone,without a mahram, impermissible, some namely like Sheikh Al Abani,Raheemullah, found it to be fine as long as it was for a good reason.
And the fitna in Saudi is that while a woman is not allowed to drive she is allowed to travel alone with an unrelated male driver which according to Islam is impermissible, Allahu alam. So all in all its a law that may have originally been established based on some wisdom at that time but is now been twisted and causing more evil,and God knows best.
u r on the spot..... very true i agree
don't you think as per there religion its prohibited that a girl can alone outside.. and they want to minimize those problems..
well this is what i think.. rest may be you know more then me..
but all i want to say is that don't judge every thing only socially,,.....
i know they are wrong they are doing a lot ov mistakes.. but still to avoid much more i think they doing this much restrictions..
now we must check how much crv are present here in doha, which are in red color and drive by K74 :)
she don't like married male, and we don't like married female.. :)
Thanks Da, i shall make a visit there.
U know anyone there who can give me good discount ?...lol
sorry for lil hijack.
using your bald head for some work and sense will cause you no harm
check this
http://www.alnhdi.com/
you could get Rizks to valet your car and keep it cool , ready for you to drive when needed..
dont love much more any things because one day he is living frome me
I do hope they lift the ban. As a Muslima I see far more evil in the ban than good but Allahu alam. I'm not a Saudi woman after all so I cannot say how they all feel. From what I hear many actually support the ban for their own reasons, mind you not always "Islamic".
I do believe that we ultimately get what we deserve.So if indeed a lift of the ban is what the women of Saudi deserve then,Inshallah,they will get it.
dont love much more any things because one day he is living frome me
alnhdi ?
where is this place ? and are you right about the name ?
alnhdi they do with reasonable price will take an hour.
Some women prefer to be driven around :o)
Back to the topic.. Women's rights do need to be addressed and urgently..
The sad thing is that these issues should have been pointed out and addressed when Saudi Arabia applied to join the WTO - but as usual, expediency was the order of the day...
well, always there is the bad and the worst! :P
I want transparent heat resistant UV filter films for my car. Where can I get that? I don't like the dark makhfi as I like to see my road clearly at night. Where can I get those and how much would they cost? At work I have a shaded car park so it is not a problem but at home, it is horrible, I don't feel like going out in the afternoons during the weekends bcoz my car feels like an oven..
go to alnhdi and make any thing as you like for your car they are professionals
I have custom made leather covers on my seat.. I don't keep any plastic covers
their country their rules , they understand their country better
just remove the plastic covers from your Honda CRV
But I am just making a point here.. I love my car and I love to drive.. I love buying a brand new car every 3 to 5 years.. I would be miserable in Saudi.. Can't imagine how tough life must be for those poor women living in Saudi..
suddenly his comments vanished wts happening on QL. k
wtever y u hav 2 say tht u love ur honda crv nobody is talkn abt ur CRV
Who 420 and what did he say? I can't read any of his comments?
I just love my brand new red Honda CRV 2011.. I would hate to lose it..
i thnk u shd agree to wt 420 is sayin and im sure u can do that ... my gud wishes r always with u
you never endup in KSA or you wont be able to drive there Kareena
Qatar is liberal only in comparison to KSA.
That we live in a place like Qatar.. Really, intead of complaining all the time about lack of human rights and stuff, you better start comparing your life here in Qatar to the lives of your sisters in Saudi Arabia. We are so fortunate, we can drive here, work anywhere we want, wear whatever we feel like and travel freely without anyone's permission or consent.. Qatar is a free country.. Long live Qatar